Everyday
by That Guy Who Ships Niff
Summary: In this prequel to "Like a 3 6", Nick is a troubled outcast coming to terms with his sexuality and Jeff is out and proud but living with hyper-religious parents. The two meet and become close, eventually becoming closer than ever when a meteor gives them superpowers. (ISUCK@SUMMARIES)
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N**_: I went through my old flash drives last night and found this - what was supposed to be the prequel to "_Like a 3 6_". I decided to put it back up.

* * *

Nicholas Wayne Duval seemed like a typical 16-year-old at his seemingly normal Cincinnati high school; he had a great group of friends, Zeke, Casey, Delilah, Stokely, and Stan; loving parents Norton and Narissa; and an amazing girlfriend, Marybeth; but Nick was harboring a secret, something that would turn his friends and family against him in a heartbeat – Nick was gay and he knew how much his friends disliked homosexuality because every time one of their more flamboyant classmates passed, Zeke and Stan would shove the poor kid to the ground and the girls would laugh and harass him; Casey usually sat in the background and did nothing to stop them.

* * *

Jeffrey Silas Sterling was almost the polar opposite, being the president of the Gay-Straight Alliance at his Lebanon high school as well as one of the most popular kids in school. There were only two people who didn't like Jeff and he had to live with them: his parents, Jacob and Jane, were very religious and were disappointed in their son for turning out to be gay. Because of this, his parents verbally abused him every day and Jeff ended up at one of his friends' houses by night. All of his friends, Sidney, Randy, Tatum, Billy, and Stu, stuck by him when he came to their houses nearly in tears.

* * *

Nick was on his way to school when he saw one of his classmates, Alex van Horne, being held up against a brick wall by resident jerks Zack Medford and Dwayne Spofford.

"Hey, let him go!" Nick ran over and pried Zack away from Alex.

"What do you want, Duval? Why are you defending this fag?" Zack snapped.

"'Cause he's just like everyone else, so what if he likes guys?" Nick retorted.

"It's not normal, that's why," Dwayne said, slamming his fist into Alex's stomach.

"I said, let him go!" Nick yanked Dwayne away from the wall and punched him in the mouth.

"You're a homo, aren't you, Duval? That's why you're protecting this faggot; you want to have butt sex with him, don't you?" Zack said with a laugh as he and Dwayne walked away. Nick glared but didn't respond, hurrying to comfort Alex, who was on the ground, shaking.

"Alex, you're gonna be okay, I promise," Nick whispered, brushing a lock of brown hair from the boy's eyes. Alex looked up at Nick and smiled.

* * *

When Nick arrived at school, everyone was staring at him with wide eyes. He passed his friends, who had nothing to say. Walking into class, he sat down in the back row, hoping he wouldn't be called upon that day.

"Mr. Duval, would you read for Romeo and Miss Reed for Juliet?" Mrs. Ridgemont asked.

"Why doesn't Nick read for Juliet 'cause he's a fucking girl?" Zack sneered.

"Shut up, Zack!" Nick stood up and spun around to face the shorter boy.

"Make me, homo," Zack taunted, standing up and pushing Nick.

"Boys, to the principal's office now!" Mrs. Ridgemont ordered. The class looked startled; Mrs. Ridgemont rarely raised her voice. Nick walked out of the room without a word and Zack followed silently.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jeff was talking to Sidney and Randy while on his way to his last period English class.

"I know, my folks were all like '_We still cannot believe the Jeffrey we raised is a filthy cocksucker'_," Jeff said in a high-pitched voice, imitating his mother.

"Oh my God, they actually said that?" Sidney asked.

"They're crazy people. I honestly don't know how I ended up being born to those two," Jeff replied, sitting down in class.

"Maybe you were adopted," Randy put in.

"That would make a lot of sense," Jeff said, pulling out his binder.

"Okay, class, we're going to start reading '_Gone with the Wind_' today," Mrs. Wells announced. Everyone groaned. "I want Sidney to read for Scarlett, Jeff for Mammy," Jeff snorted at this, he knew Mrs. Wells chose him because he had played Mama in '_A Raisin in the Sun_' the year before, "Eric for Gerald O'Hara…" Mrs. Wells went on and on assigning parts and Jeff started doodling.

* * *

"Nicholas Duval, why are you here _again_?" Vice Principal Bradshaw asked. "This is the third time in the last two weeks. What have you done now?"

"Zack provoked me," Nick answered meekly. "He called me a 'fucking girl'."

"Watch your language, Duval," Vice Principal Bradshaw warned.

"What? You're not gonna do anything? He pretty much called me a faggot and you don't care?" Nick asked, feeling like the whole world was suddenly against him.

"Did Mrs. Ridgemont hear this?" Bradshaw asked.

"I don't know, she didn't say anything about it. Zack pushed me, calling me a homo, and then she sent us both here," Nick replied.

"Vice Principal Bradshaw, I swear I didn't touch Nick," Zack interrupted. "Whatever he claims is nothing."

"Is there one day in your life you can tell the truth, Zack?" Nick snapped.

"Duval, let Medford tell his side of the story," Bradshaw said.

"Oh my God," Nick moaned. "Did he tell you I punched his buddy Dwayne in the mouth this morning because they were picking on a kid? Huh?"

"Medford, is this true?" Bradshaw asked.

"Well, yeah, but van Horne is a huge faggot, he needs to be a man," Zack insisted.

"You may go, Zachary," Bradshaw said; Zack gave Nick a swift kick under the chair as he left.

"So that's it? You're going to let him keep beating up effeminate students and you punish me for standing up for the victims?" Nick demanded, standing up.

"Duval, sit down or I will call the juvenile authorities," Bradshaw said icily.

"Go ahead and call them. I'm getting the hell out of here." Nick turned on his heel and left the office.

* * *

Jeff walked home from school without his friends, who all had their individual sports practices. He then saw a short black-haired boy sitting with his knees up against him at a bus stop.

"Hey," Jeff said, approaching the boy.

"Hi," the boy replied, looking away and wiping his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Jeff asked; the boy shook his head and sniffed. "What's wrong?"

"I can't go back to school. No one there gives a shit about me; it's like my being gay is a virus. Everyone looks at me like I'm a leper. I'm sorry I'm spilling my guts to you. I'm Nick," the boy said, extending a hand.

"Jeff. It's nice to meet you." Jeff shook the boy's hand.


	2. Chapter 2

"I like the name Nick," Jeff said, sitting down next to Nick. "As overused as it is, it suits you." Nick smiled shyly at this. "Now, tell me what happened. I'm always trying to help people out."

Nick sniffled and looked at Jeff. "Well, no one knew I was gay until this morning, when I tried to protect a gay classmate from some jerks. The jerks accused me of being gay and went right ahead telling everyone. My friends aren't accepting people; they're pretty much in the same boat with those jerks, they're always making fun of the gay kids at school. I don't say anything because I'm scared they might beat me up as well."

"I know how that feels, Nick," Jeff sympathized, putting a hand on Nick's. "My parents are religious bastards, so they always harass me about it at home. It's always '_Jeffrey's a homosexual and it's a God-awful sin_' and '_Jeffrey, you're going to hell unless you change your ways_'. It's so sad." Nick looked down at Jeff's hand and realized that Jeff may be what he's been looking for. Nick leaned in and kissed Jeff softly on the lips. He pulled away and saw a look of indifference on Jeff's face.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that," Nick said quickly. Jeff put a finger to Nick's lips and then kissed him back. The two stayed connected for a few seconds before parting.

"That was amazing, Nick," Jeff whispered. "You're amazing. I'm going to help you with your problems."

"I'm going to help you too, Jeff," Nick replied.

* * *

When Nick got home, he took a deep breath outside and braced himself for his parents' reactions.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home, and I have something to tell you," Nick called, opening the door.

"We know, Nicky, and it's perfectly fine, honey," his mother said.

"Hold on, you know I'm gay?" Nick was surprised.

"We've known, Nick," his father explained. "It became an inquiry when you stopped wanting to play football and start writing short stories. We knew for sure when we saw your browser history; I expected to see pornography, you're sixteen. But when I didn't see girl-on-girl material and instead saw guy-on-guy, it became pretty clear."

"And you're not mad?" Nick asked, looking skeptical.

"Not in the slightest. It's normal for boys your age to keep secrets from your parents. We want you to know, Nick, that you can talk to us about anything, okay?" his father said. Nick nodded.

"Well, in that case, I met a boy. His name is Jeff, he's really awesome, but his parents aren't accepting at all. I was thinking maybe he could come over here sometime." Nick chose his words carefully.

"That's fine, Nicky. If you like him, I'm sure we'll like him too," his mother said.

"I'm gonna go call him," Nick said excitedly and hugged his parents.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jeff had arrived home and saw his room had been searched through.

"Mom, Dad, why is my room messy?" Jeff called.

"We found this, Jeffrey," his mother said, holding up a pornographic magazine.

"And? I'm gay and I'm not changing for you," Jeff retorted, snatching the magazine from her hand.

"Jeffrey, respect your mother," his father said warningly.

"Like you're any better," Jeff told his father. "I'm betting this was your idea because you can see what I do online. Yes, I've been on GSA sites, but that's to help out at school. I'm sixteen, people, I look at porn. All sixteen-year-olds look at porn. I bet you looked at porn when you were my age, Dad."

"Yes, I did, but it was heterosexual," his father started, but Jeff cut him off.

"Heterosexual, homosexual, what's the big difference? I mean, it's like when girls kiss girls, because the majority of the world is quote-unquote 'heterosexual', it's sexy, but when guys kiss guys, it's a big fucking deal. You have to be open-minded. Besides, if you're so devoted to Jesus, you wouldn't be harassing me about my sexuality. I don't think He would be doing it. Actually, I think you would be going to hell for harassing me…" Jeff's words were cut off by his mother's slap. Jeff shut up; his parents had never hit him before.

"Jeffrey, you've said enough. Go to your room now and we'll talk about this later," she hissed.

"You know what, fuck this. I'm leaving this house and you two for good," Jeff snapped. He ran up to his room, slammed the door, and shoved a bunch of clothes into his backpack.

"Jeffrey, be reasonable," his mother said as he burst out of his room.

"Get out of my way," Jeff snapped, sidestepping his mother and running out of the house. His phone rang as he was a few blocks away. "Hello?" his voice broke when he answered.

"Jeff, what's wrong?" It was Nick.

"Nick, I just left home. I can't go back there. I can't believe my mom hit me. I need to see you. I'm going to the bus and I'm coming out to Cincinnati, okay? Meet me at the bus station, okay?" Jeff said in a rush.

"Okay, Jeff, I'll see you there," Nick said quickly before running back downstairs.

* * *

"Mom, can we pick up Jeff at the bus station? His mom hit him and he ran away, he wants to see me. Can we go, please? I'm worried about him," Nick asked his mom.

"Of course, Nicky, come on," she said, grabbing the car keys.

Nick's mom parked outside the bus station and Nick ran inside, looking for Jeff. He saw a blond boy with a backpack looking around; Nick ran over and tapped the boy on the shoulder. The boy turned around, Nick recognized it was Jeff, and Jeff hugged Nick.

"Nick, I'm scared," Jeff whispered. "I can't go back home, I just can't."

"My mom's outside. You can come over to my house." Nick took Jeff's hand and led him outside. Nick opened the car's trunk and put Jeff's backpack in, and then led him to the passenger door. "Mom, this is Jeff. Jeff, this is my mom, Narissa." Jeff shook Mrs. Duval's hand and stood there as Nick got in the car. "Well, come on, get in." Jeff looked hesitant, and then got in the backseat.

* * *

"Dad, we're home!" Nick called as he walked into the house. Jeff watched the tall, black-haired man approach him and Nick. "Dad, this is Jeff."

"Hello, Jeff. I'm Joe, Nick's father," the man said, extending his hand. Jeff shook it and looked at Nick, who smiled warmly. "You two go up to your room while your mother and I talk, Nicky."

"Okay, Dad," Nick replied, grabbing Jeff by the hand and pulling him upstairs. "I just came out to them, but they already knew. And this is my room." Nick shut the door quietly. Jeff looked around, taking it all in.

"Wow, you have an awesome room, Nick," Jeff muttered. He bent down to check out Nick's CD collection and gasped. "Oh sweet, you have Katy Perry's new album! And it does smell like cotton candy! Can we listen to it?" Nick was already one step ahead; he was clicking on "_Teenage Dream_" on his iTunes. Nick started to sing:

"_You think I'm pretty_

_Without any makeup on_

_You think I'm funny_

_When I tell the punch line wrong_

_I know you get me_"

Jeff laughed and took the next part:

"_So I let my walls come down, down_

_Before you met me, I was alright_

_But things were kinda heavy_

_You brought me to life_"

Both boys sang together:

"_Now every February_

_You'll be my valentine, valentine's_

_Let's go all the way tonight_

_No regrets, just love_

_We can dance until we die_

_You and I, we'll be young together_

"_You make me_

_Feel like I'm living a_

_Teenage dream_

_The way you turn me on_

_I can't sleep_

_Let's run away_

_And don't ever look back_

_Don't ever look back_

_My heart stops_

_When you look at me_

_Just one touch_

_Now, baby, I believe_

_This is real_

_So take a chance_

_And don't ever look back_

_Don't ever look back_."

Nick and Jeff ended up on the bed, laughing. They looked at each other longingly, and then Nick took Jeff's hand and held on tight.

"I really like you, Jeff. You're my teenage dream," he said.

"I like you too, Nick," Jeff whispered, scooching closer to Nick. Jeff leaned in and kissed Nick on the lips. When he moved away, Nick grinned and giggled. "I want to come to your school and help you with your friends," he said, sitting up.

"Jeff, I don't think that's such a good idea. You don't know my friends, they really aren't accepting people," Nick said, getting nervous.

"Nick, I want to do this. Who cares what they think? It's you and me now; I mean, I want you to have friends, but not friends who don't accept you." Jeff put on a puppy-dog face and Nick broke into a smile.

"Fine, you can come to school and try and stand up for me. I'll be right behind you, Jeff," Nick said, kissing him again.


	3. Chapter 3

Jeff kept an eye on Nick as the latter went to school the next day. Nick had put on a black hoodie to avoid being seen. It didn't work; he was slammed into a locker the second he stepped into the school.

"Faggot," the attacker called. Nick stood up, rubbed his arm, and continued on his way.

"Hey, Duval, are you a top or a bottom?" A group of cheerleaders taunted; Nick ignored them. Jeff saw two burly guys in letterman jackets stop Nick in the middle of the hall.

"Nick Duval, we heard you're a homo," one said and Nick looked down. "Look at me when I'm talking to you." The guy grabbed Nick's hair and yanked his head up.

"Please leave me alone," Nick whispered. "I didn't do anything to you."

"Aw, Jer, look, Duval's pleading," the second guy said.

"I said, please." Nick just wanted to disappear.

"And I want you to _please_ stop being a homo, but we don't always get what we want," Jerry taunted, throwing Nick into a locker. Jeff had had enough and stormed over.

"Hey! Leave him alone," Jeff snapped at the jocks.

"Whoa, lookit here, Duval's got himself a boyfriend," the second guy jeered. Jeff shoved the guy and the guy looked surprised. "You little bitch, you don't know who the fuck you just messed with."

"And quite honestly, I don't give a shit, but if you so much as touch him again, I will kill you," Jeff hissed. Nick didn't see the look on Jeff's face, but the jocks did and they turned and walked away without another word. Jeff hurried to help Nick up, who sniffed and looked at Jeff gratefully.

"Thank you," Nick whispered and Jeff smiled.

"Let's get you to class," Jeff said; Nick nodded and led the way.

* * *

"Nicholas Duval, why are you late?" the teacher demanded when Nick walked into the room.

"Busy," was Nick's response.

"And who are you?" the teacher looked at Jeff.

"I'm a friend, just making sure Nick gets to class," Jeff explained. "You going to be okay, buddy?" he asked Nick quietly. Nick nodded and went to his seat.

"You may leave now," the teacher snapped at Jeff with a glare.

"Well, excuse me for interrupting your super important class," Jeff snapped back.

"Hey, Duval, is that your boyfriend?" a snide voice asked. Jeff spun around to see a redheaded boy poke Nick with his pencil. Nick stayed silent and stared straight ahead.

"That's enough, Mr. Medford," the teacher said. "You can have fun with the fag after class." Jeff was shocked by the teacher's attitude; he walked over to Nick, grabbed him, and dragged him out of the school. "Where are you going with that boy?" the teacher yelled after him.

"Away from you and this homophobic shithole," Jeff replied. He finally stopped in the parking lot, where he saw tears falling from Nick's eyes. "Are you okay, Nicky?"

"I-I can't b-believe she would s-say that," he sobbed.

"I couldn't believe it either," Jeff said, putting an arm around Nick. "Come on, let's get you home."

* * *

When Nick and Jeff arrived at Nick's house, Nick's parents were gone and there was a strange smoke coming from the backyard.

"What the fuck?" Nick asked, running through the back gate, Jeff in tow.

"What is that?" Jeff looked at the rock glowing in the ground. He grabbed a stick and poked at it; the rock exploded, knocking out the boys.

* * *

_**A/N**_: I'm sorry for the horrendously short chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N**_: Sorry this took forever. I've never made it past this part before.

* * *

When Jeff woke up, he felt dizzy; he looked over at Nick, who was still unconscious. Jeff stumbled over to Nick and shook the brunet.

"Nicky, Nicky, wake up, come on, baby, wake up," Jeff said, lightly slapping Nick.

"What happened?" Nick asked, sitting up.

"I poked the glowing rock with a stick and it exploded," Jeff explained

'_Well, gee, you poked the rock, it was glowing, it exploded, what else do glowing rocks do_?' Nick thought.

"Don't get snarky with me," Jeff snapped and Nick looked at him, surprised.

'_How did he know what I was thinking?_' Nick wondered.

"Oh my God, Nick, I can read your mind," Jeff gasped.

"Okay, this is weird. It's like some weird sci-fi movie," Nick mused.

'_Can you read my mind, Nicky?_' Jeff marveled.

'_Yes, Jeffy, I can. Holy shit, I can read your mind!_' Nick looked excited.

"Let's see what else we can do," Nick suggested. He looked over at his backpack and it floated over to him. "Dude, we have telekinesis. You try." Jeff looked at Nick and Nick felt a tingling before he went up into the air.

"Wow, I can levitate people," Jeff said. He took his eyes off of Nick and Nick realized he was still in the air.

"Cool, I can fly," Nick exclaimed, zooming off towards a plane up in the sky. He knocked on a window; the passenger looked over and jumped backwards at the sight of a flying teenager. Nick grinned and waved before floating back down.

"Nicky, you're going to get us in trouble if you do that," Jeff admonished once Nick had landed in the yard.

"Please, Jeff, people will think they're just going crazy. We'll be fine," Nick shrugged off the warning.

"Promise me one thing for now, Nicky. We can't tell anyone about this, okay?" Nick nodded and embraced Jeff.

* * *

"So, boys, how was your day?" Narissa asked during dinner.

"It was normal, just everyday typical normal," Nick said. Jeff nudged him from under the table. "By the way, where's Dad?"

"Your father needed to run some extra errands for the firm, so he'll be home a little late," Elizabeth replied. "Nick's father is a lawyer," she explained to a curious-looking Jeff.

'_I bet that son of a bitch is out with his poker buddies_,' Narissa thought. Jeff looked at Nick, who looked a little sad. Jeff twisted his leg around Nick's. Nick looked up and Jeff smiled, which made Nick smile back.

"Mrs. Duval…"

"Please, Jeff, call me Narissa."

"Okay, Narissa, um, we need to tell you something. Nick?" Nick looked up from his plate and blanched. "Nick, tell her."

"M-Mom, I-I don't want to go back to s-school. The people there t-treat like me shit," Nick whispered, tears filling his eyes. "Mrs. Magness called me a fag in front of the whole class." Narissa looked affronted as she got up and hugged her son.

"It's okay, Nick. You don't have to go back. Maybe you can join Jeff at his school. Jeff, where do you go?"

"Cincinnati High," Jeff replied. "It's kind of a ways away."

"I'm sure we can work something out," Narissa smiled gently. From outside, Nick heard someone's car.

"Dad's home!" he said, jumping up.

"How did he…?" Narissa muttered, but shook her head and followed her son. Jeff just sat at the dinner table, glancing around at the décor.

"So we were talking about me going to Jeff's school in Cincinnati," Nick was saying as the small family returned.

"Anyone heard from Nate?" Norton asked. Narissa shook her head and Nick looked at the floor. "Oh, hello there, Jeff. Nate is Nick's older brother who…emancipated himself a few months ago and disappeared."

"It's my fault," Nick mumbled and his father placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault, Nick. You just did what was right," he said softly. "Telling us that Nate had a drug problem does not make you a bad person."

"I sure feel like it. He always protected me. I wish he was still here. Maybe he could make the bullying stop."

"I'll call the school in the morning and have Nick's records begin the transfer process," Narissa said. "I'll also have a long talk with the principal about this Mrs. Magness."

* * *

"Nicky?" Jeff whispered. Nick was face-down on his bed and hadn't moved in almost an hour since the two trooped upstairs. "Nick, please talk to me."

"He told me I wasn't his little bro anymore," Nick mumbled. "I always looked up to him. He was the best big brother ever." Nick began to sob into the pillow. Jeff sat down on the bed and rubbed his back.

"Shh, it's okay, Nicky. I'm here for you," he whispered.

"I-I love you, J-Jeffy," Nick whispered.

"I love you too," Jeff smiled gently, kissing the back of Nick's neck. "It'll be okay. Everything will be fine, I promise. Your mom said the transfer papers will come in a few days and until then I can stay home with you."

"Really?" Nick looked up, curious. Jeff nodded. "You're the best, Jeff."

"Aw, don't mention it," Jeff giggled.


End file.
